This invention relates to a locking device for fuel tank outlet cap members of vehicles, and more particularly to a locking device for vehicles to prevent the theft of fuel from such vehicles.
Since the advent of internal combustion-driven vehicles, the theft of fuel from the tanks of same has presented problems. To overcome or minimize the threat of such thefts, various approaches have been suggested previously, including modifications of the vehicle body design to enclose the filler tube outlet for the tanks within the vehicle's trunk or other locked compartment, such as a separate well for same or behind a license plate holder which is locked in place, modifications of the filler tube caps to include key-operated locks, and closures which cover the filler tube caps. Examples of prior such approaches are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,869,918; 2,798,759; 3,704,606; and 3,912,322.
Previous suggested approaches to remedy the fuel theft problem, however, have not proved to be totally satisfactory due to relative non-acceptance by consumers of unconventional body designs, the use of extra keys, and/or relatively complicated procedures and equipment required to install prior anit-theft devices or use same. The seemingly more popular approach heretofor available, i.e., the use of key-operated caps for the filler tube outlets, further recently has been plagued by a general shortage of such caps, and, at any rate, this approach still has suffered from a need for an extra key to be kept by the user. More importantly, the over-all problem of fuel theft has become aggravated by the recent meteoric rise in the price of fuel.
Accordingly, a situation has developed, particularly with regard to vehicles already in use, where a significant need exists for an inexpensive, simple to install, and reliable fuel anti-theft device which is versatile in use, yet requires no extra keys or modifications of the vehicle, and a search has continued in the art for such a device.